Make it Happen: A Rope Necklace, Three Ways

July 11, 2014

Sultry summer days call for effortless outfitting: think slip dresses, strappy sandals and one fabulous statement necklace. And what’s a better statement to make, we say, than Å“Oh, this necklace? I made it myself! Even if you’ve never picked up a glue gun, worry not, we’ll show you the ropes.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

Rope in assorted widths and colors

Bungee cord

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Scissors

Leather scraps

Embroidery Floss

1″ Copper coupling (you can get this in the plumbing aisle of the hardware store!)

Loop-de-Loop Necklace

1. Cut a 27 piece of braided rope, a 30 piece of grey rope and a 22 piece of blue rope. Lay them out as shown in the picture.2. Loop the ends of the blue rope up and hot glue to secure. Do the same for the grey rope.‚
3. Cut four ‚¾ x 1 ‚½ pieces of leather. Wrap these around the ropes as shown and glue down to secure.‚
4. Wrap sections of colorful embroidery floss around the ropes as desired and glue ends to secure.‚
5. Cut three 8 pieces of bungee rope. Glue the pieces together at both ends and add a 1 copper coupling to each end.
6. Glue the ends of the bungee to the braided rope and use the coupling to cover the connection points.

Variation 1: Nautical Knots

1. Cut four 42 pieces of rope. Split into two bundles of two strands of rope each.2. On a flat surface in front of you, make a loop with each rope, with the loops facing each other. Place the left loop on top of the right one. The loops will look a bit like a pretzel! As shown in the photo, weave the ends of the ropes alternately over and under and pull the knot taut.‚
3. Add copper coupling and embroidery floss as desired for color.‚
4. To connect the ends, hot glue together and hide the connection with another piece of copper coupling.

Variation 2: Lots of Knots

1. Cut 3 pieces of thin rope and one 42 piece of braided rope. Set the braided rope aside for a moment.2. Holding the thinner ropes,‚ randomly string beads (we used painted faceted wood beads but you can use anything!) and copper coupling and tie knots throughout.‚
3. When you are happy with your design, grab that braided rope again and glue the ends of all four ropes to secure then the two ends of the necklace together to secure. Hide the glued ends with a piece of leather.